All this supposed bad news

[JD1976]

Yet no one wants to stop and remember that Dixon and staff still managed to recruit one of the best duos returning in the ACC in Artis and Young just a few years ago. Sure there was some bad news this week, but next year's team has talent and experience. All is not lost.
Posted from Rivals Mobile

 

[thebadby2]

What happened this week is not "supposed" bad news. It's real bad news.

The fact that Dixon brought in two guys of his last 10-12 or so who actually panned out is of no consequence when it comes to the dumpster fire emergency state of Pitt recruiting now.

 

[Harve74]

Agree we have missed on big name targets. So what? We never got those guys in the glory years either.

The program was built on guys like Artis who devloped and bloomed after a couple years in the program.

Getting away from that is the problem, not missing on 5-stars.

Trykng for quick fixes because of missing on 5-stars is not the solution. Signing some solid 3-stars and developing them is. If we do that, we can rise again. Flailing around tryng to grab short term fixes is a recipe for failure.

We have a roster where playing time is going to mostly go to the rising junior class. Right now is really the ideal time to be signing a couple developmental guys.

 

[thebadby2]

Oh I agree about the five star types. That isn't the be all end all for us--not yet anyway. It will probably take one or two of those top 75 types some day with the right mix of everything else to ever get to a FF. Look at Wisconsin--they got lucky with Kaminsky, but they also had Dekker (5 star), Koenig (high 4 star) Hayes (top 100). Right now I'm just talking about assembling a roster that can actually compete in the ACC and in March, and I don't see us having that next year or the year after, and that ain't good.

Recruiting "program guys" is one thing, relying on desperation grabs at the Nixes and Haughtons of the world is something else. Taking whatever transfer wants to come to Pitt regardless of what we already have at his natural spot is something else as well. That;s what we have been doing,that;s where we're at in 2015, and we have one guy, another forward, locked in for 2016.

And losing Heron is a big deal, IMO. I'm not surprised at it, we don't get those kinds of kids, but it still sucks--bad. Some of the apologists who have been championing Heron as the proof that JD is a good recruiter are now reversing field and saying we never get those kinds of guys anyway, blah blah blah.

 

[Tiger Paul Lives]

While at the pre-game brunch, I was discussing the bad week with one of the athletic department staff and all they would say is let's sit down for lunch in August and I bet you will feel a whole lot better. Of course I asked what they knew and was told that they knew some things but wouldn't divulge. I have no clue what the cryptic message is, but I did feel a bit better. I hope they really know something and it is a developing situation.

 

[Jeffburgh]

Unfortunately, this isn't great news, either

this class, one kid who seems like a prototype JD solid, developmental guy in Wilson and one marginal JC big man, and it appears scrambling around looking for senior eligible transfers.

They have another what appears to be a solid, developmental type guy in the big man Smoke recruited lined up for 2016.

NOW, absolutely, JD DESPERATELY needs to get the roster under control, get kids in and develop them.

But, that root is pretty sparse.

Unless he gets some miracle kid we don't know about, outside of Wilson, they aren't going to recruit a prep who can even step on the court until the fall of 2016, and probably won't really help until the fall of 2017 at best.

 

[thebadby2]

How many times have we seen this kind of thing posted before, with no grand revelation forthcoming?

And I'm not doubting for one second that you had this conversation, I'm just doubting very much that there is something big in the works that we don;t know about that's going to give us a huge boost. I suspect your guy was jsut doing what athletic dept. staff does--cheerleading. It's like a sales job at the end of the day.

ADs, assistant ADs and athletic dept. staff are all company men, cheerleaders. I have several friends in the business at other schools. I've heard that kind of thing many times from them.

 

[cruzer]

The program is regressing, both recruiting-wise and results-wise. We've missed the tournament 2 out of the last 4 years and those years we did make it, we went nowhere. We've completely whiffed on 2 big men who we signed in desperation. We've had our two best recruits in a while both de-commit. This isn't a pessimistic assessment, it's just the reality of the situation.

All may not be lost, but it's impossible to objectively look at the direction of the program and not have serious concerns.

Cruzer

 

[steel_curtain]

Originally posted by JD1976:
Yet no one wants to stop and remember that Dixon and staff still managed to recruit one of the best duos returning in the ACC in Artis and Young just a few years ago. Sure there was some bad news this week, but next year's team has talent and experience. All is not lost.
Posted from Rivals Mobile

Huh? Pitt is projected to finish between 11-13th in the ACC next year, probable NIT but more likely CBI bid.

Pitt is projected to suck next year. You need more than 2 players. And you need guards.

 

[wbrpanther]

Until we know who we end up signing all this "bad news" is only conjecture.

It wasn't long ago that news about kids teams were recruiting who decided to go elsewhere never created a stir because no one knew who was recruiting who.Heron and Rowan de committing has been the only true bad news and those stories haven't been written yet either. Those ships will be filled by someone and they may end up being good players, despite what our "fans" say now.

 

[Wednesday Morning]

A Temple Gibbs, Tervell Beck, and Corey Manigault class for next year would be a solid (get things back on track) kind of class.

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

"supposed"? I think that is a poor choice of words, because for Pitt BB, it has not been a good week.

But what the hell, I am making Roast Chicken.

 

[Tiger Paul Lives]

While I can't refute your premise and the conversation came with no specifics at all, this was not a conversation I had with just anyone in the athletic department. It is a friend and someone I have spent time with at many Pitt functions. I understand your skepticism as I am too, but this person has no reason to feed me a line of bull and I would be disappointed if they did. So, I just hope we have that lunch in August and he tells me I told you so.

 

[DC_Area_Panther]

Well, August is when we will have seen the summer pro-AM having been played and we will have had our first look at Rozelle Nix and Damon WIlson plus whoever else might be recruited between now and the summer. Maybe what we have already got will look a lot better than what we are thinking it will at this point in time.

Unless they are bringing in a big talented Euro or two that we are unaware of it doesn't seem likely we would not have heard anything about potential late recruits with real talent that are being pursued.

I do hope your fiend really knows something we all don't.

 

[Tiger Paul Lives]

Me too!

 

[thebadby2]

To many on this board, "objective" = "Debbie Downer nitter doom-n-gloomer mopey self-loathing 'fans' ".

There's no way for anyone with any degree of sanity to put a positive spin on the current recruiting situation.

And if it's going to get any better, Dixon needs to make some loud noise in the recruiting world, and not just ride herd. I'm not saying we need 5 star kids, although they're always nice. We need to target some solid players of the type we need, get them as early as possible in the recruiting cycle, and nail them down on LOI day. No more grabbing the last girl left without a dance partner.

It's no time to be delusional . We aren't in the running for any Diallos, Herons or even Rowans. We aren't going to get Cassius Winston out of Detroit in 2016 just because Smoke knows his dad. we won't even sniff at him, and that holds true even if he eventually puts us on his list as a favor to Smoke.

But there are good players out there we can get, and we need to start getting them. And we need scorers who can get to the rim and shoot the ball in the backcourt, ideally at both spots.

 

[heybandguy]

I agree that recruiting has to improve. I am not convinced that Dixon or the staff are set on what kind of player they want to recruit. I feel Pitt has experienced an identity crisis since moving into the ACC. In retrospect, perhaps some of their inconsistent play has been fueled by a lack of team identity and strong on-court leadership. If they are going to clearly change their style to meet the style of ACC league play, find - then work to bring those kinds of players in. I don't necessarily feel the JD changes his mind often or quickly with his approach - in game situations, or recruiting. They need less projects, more players, and those players have to be able to fit Pitt's style and approach. If I could be sure what Pitt's style was over the past year, I would feel better about the entire situation. Young and Artis are good examples of what has gone right in recruiting - but out of the last 10-12 (as someone pointed out) is not good. If Andrew McCutchen was 2-12, we would call that a slump for sure. I am cautiously optimistic about what Wilson can bring next year, and what Nix can contribute. They need another legitimate piece to that puzzle at the 2. I know practically the only option is an transfer that does not contribute to fixing things long term, but recruiting needs some good news quick.

 

[SoufOaklin4Life]

Originally posted by thebadby2:
To many on this board, "objective" = "Debbie Downer nitter doom-n-gloomer mopey self-loathing 'fans' ".

There's no way for anyone with any degree of sanity to put a positive spin on the current recruiting situation.

And if it's going to get any better, Dixon needs to make some loud noise in the recruiting world, and not just ride herd. I'm not saying we need 5 star kids, although they're always nice. We need to target some solid players of the type we need, get them as early as possible in the recruiting cycle, and nail them down on LOI day. No more grabbing the last girl left without a dance partner.

It's no time to be delusional . We aren't in the running for any Diallos, Herons or even Rowans. We aren't going to get Cassius Winston out of Detroit in 2016 just because Smoke knows his dad. we won't even sniff at him, and that holds true even if he eventually puts us on his list as a favor to Smoke.

But there are good players out there we can get, and we need to start getting them. And we need scorers who can get to the rim and shoot the ball in the backcourt, ideally at both spots.

And to many on this board, "rational" = "apologist".

Anyone who isn't suicidal and maintains some perspective about the state of the program- ie isn't a chicken-little, seems to REALLY bother those "objective" fans.

Which calls into question the "objective" nature, doesn't it?

 

[KennyTheKangaroo]

Originally posted by Harve74:
Agree we have missed on big name targets. So what? We never got those guys in the glory years either.

The program was built on guys like Artis who devloped and bloomed after a couple years in the program.

Getting away from that is the problem, not missing on 5-stars.

Trykng for quick fixes because of missing on 5-stars is not the solution. Signing some solid 3-stars and developing them is. If we do that, we can rise again. Flailing around tryng to grab short term fixes is a recipe for failure.

We have a roster where playing time is going to mostly go to the rising junior class. Right now is really the ideal time to be signing a couple developmental guys.

I think we are on the same page about how the recruiting process should look going forward. I have zero interest in a guy like Thorne or this dude from mercer. I do not care if they are the difference between a 2016 bid in the NCAA tournament. This program needs to avoid attrition and cut down on reaches/transfers/jucos/late period guys.

I understand that reaches have to be signed out of necessitiy, but the core of this program has been development, not transfers and not mcdonalds all americans.

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

I think we should recruit the kids who want to come here and put in the work, wait their turn and be team first. Those are the types of kids we should recruit. Or not. Whatever. This is all just window dressing. Recruiting is really a means to an end. Only Wins matter. Wait, well wins don't matter because at the end of the day, this doesn't matter. My fantastic life is unaffected. So I guess I am just being rational. But this is cool, because it is Earth Day. And someday I will have grass. Not that grass has anything to do with today, 4/20, but it is the fact that my yard doesn't and no matter of Pitt recruiting news can change the fact that right now I have no lawn to speak of.

 

[GomerTV]

I'm sure we will get excited. I fondly remember how well Uchebo did...in the summer.

 

[IamHeisenberg]

"And to many on this board, "rational" = "apologist"."

That may be true for many.

But there are "apologists" who are not rational either.

You seem to let those folks off the hook and tend to go after the Debbie Downer's only.

Although you likely don't think so, I think most people would consider that you have a bias towards the "apologists" side.

You aren't quite on the island you claim to be.

 

[heybandguy]

Young and Artis showed development at points which is encouraging. And to a point, some players have really come into their own after arriving here (except perhaps Dante Taylor). The transfer option did not work out well a few years back with Zeigler, and outside of some flashy moments in a few games I was a bit disappointed in Jeter's overall season. While it does address areas of need, I am not sure JD's system has lent itself well to transfers having success here (unless I am missing somebody that has come through and did really well). I would agree with those who view better recruiting - solid players, not projects - that are brought in, and develop would do a lot to stabilize the roster consistently year to year. The transfers of this past year were stretches and projects - God bless Big Joe because the heart was willing but body could not deliver - and again it falls on the staff to find better players and land them - recruit, transfer or otherwise.

 

[MrGee]

The program is regressing, both recruiting-wise and results-wise. We've missed the tournament 2 out of the last 4 years and those years we did make it, we went nowhere. We've completely whiffed on 2 big men who we signed in desperation. We've had our two best recruits in a while both de-commit. This isn't a pessimistic assessment, it's just the reality of the situation.

All may not be lost, but it's impossible to objectively look at the direction of the program and not have serious concerns.

Cruzer

Kinda sums up how I feel---something happened on the way to the ACC!